Malady
Malady is a form of "small god", a nature spirit embodying one particular force in the world: a sickness known as the Grinning Death. Appearance Malady most often appears as a weary, travelling young woman clad in ragged robes and wearing a mask to hide her features. Depending on her whims the robes may appear clean or soaked and stained in blood and ichor, while her mask has been known to shift and flicker for mere moments at a time, as if it was a face itself. Beneath these vestments, she is thin and pale, drenched in the black ichor that marks those infected with the Grinning Death. Her eyes, nose and mouth oozing the foul substance. Her shoulder-length brown hair is thick and tangled, wild are barely contained inside her hood. When she feels she is threatened, or using her powers, ichor wells from her skin and makes her form liquid and shadowy. In this state, she can alter her shape to an extent, using this power to form blades or shields as needed. Besides what she wears, Malady is known to carry with her a large cross, the arms of which dangle many masks similar to her own from ropes. This cross serves as a staff, mark of religion, or weapon as the situation demands. History Malady was not always a spirit, but began life as a mortal instead. She was born into nobility, but was always regarded as naive, out of touch with the world. She fell in love with the son of the kingdom's ruler, and he returned her affections. Shortly after he took the throne, the Grinning Death began to make some in the cities ill in what was one of the first recorded outbreaks. It defied every attempt at treatment, and as panic grew and more people fled from the tainted cities it spread faster and faster. Afraid, the prince refused to fund those who hoped to cure the illness and instead retreated to his summer home in the hills above the capital. Here, he barricaded himself and his love inside with a thousand other members of nobility, hoping to outlast the plague and return to the people when it had passed. However, the prince's fiancé grew to see the cowardice in this plan, and, hoping to solve the problem left the summer home under cover of darkness and storm during a grand masque ball. Heading into the now-ruined capital, she chanced upon one of the doctors who had sought to cure the Grinning Death. Still not comprehending how bad things had gotten, she became infected while trying to help him. Delirious, the illness rapidly ravaging her body, she came to the conclusion that the only way the plague would stop was when it had run out of people to infect. Returning to the prince's summer home, she entered the ball clad in her stained clothing and a quarantine mask from the mass graves outside the walls, revealing herself to the prince and spending her last moments with him. Her presence had already tainted those present, and before long the entire gathered nobility had died from the Grinning Death. But, her spirit being strong, the Grinning Death being a fairly new force in the world, and terror being a powerful belief, these deaths served as fuel to give her new life. Infused with the spirit of the disease, she found herself a part of the spirit realm, tied to the natural ways of the world. She took "Malady" as her new name, perhaps out of symbolism or perhaps from memories of her servants referring to her as "my lady". And then she left the ruined kingdom behind, seeking new places to bring her "happiness". Motivation Malady exists to spread the Grinning Death from place to place, taking life and sowing discord as she does. She does not, as some would like to accredit her, wish to end all life. To do so would be to remove all room for sickness, to end her purpose, and as such she does not head down that path. Instead, she is content to spread the Grinning Death where it can be spread, no more, no less. She is not evil, but not good either. Abilities Being a nature spirit, Malady has several abilities that allow her to continue her deathly work, without threat of reprieve from those who survive the sickness she spreads. **Malady is immortal and does not age. **Malady is heavily resistant to physical damage and has great regenerative abilities. **Malady can form simple blades out of her substance if she needs to defend herself. **Malady can raise any mortal killed by the Grinning Death into a zombie-like creature possessing great strength and speed. Sickness Malady exists as an entity of disease, of the Grinning Death given a avatar in the mortal realm. As such, her most striking ability is that to bring the plague with her wherever she goes. It should be noted that even though the Grinning Death is normally curable by magic, those infected by Malady herself do not share this trait. Malady's infectious nature is controlled by the lunar cycle, that of the New Moon in particular. For the roughly twenty-five days leading up to the nights directly preceding the New Moon, Malady is barely infectious, and the strength of her disease is minimal. In all but the weakest, infection results only in stage one symptoms and can only be communicated to the victim through direct contact with Malady's fluids. For the three days before the New Moon, the plague begins to stir around her. The plague gains the ability to transmit to objects through Malady's touch, and infection is more likely. Stage two symptoms begin to manifest in infected, and those who contract the sickness often find themselves bedridden and near-death for weeks after exposure. The severity of symptoms worsens the closer to the New Moon it is. On the New Moon itself, the Grinning Death reaches full potential, and is transmissible through all normal forms. It is during this time only that those infected by Malady will progress through all four stages of infection. After the New Moon has past, the plague goes back to sleep within her, repeating the stages leading up the New Moon in reverse until it once more enters dormancy for another twenty five days or so. Category:Characters Category:Fantasy